Father John blows away Madison in best jazz concert of 2008

I’ve seen several articles listing the best concerts of 2008 in the Isthmus and Wisconsin Journal but none that focused exclusively on jazz. This article is about my favorite. What were yours? Send in your favorites using the comment section and let’s see if we can get a list going.

I saw many jazz concerts last year: Kurt Elling at the Overture Center, the Isthmus Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, Jazz at Five, Chicago Jazz Festival, Chris Potter at the Pabst in Milwaukee and at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, many Wednesday jams at the Concourse, and a variety of other acts at the Magnus, Brinks, and other places. Out of all of these amazing concerts one stood out clearly from the rest. Surprisingly, this concert was right here in Madison with a home grown group at the bargain price of $15 (Steely Dan tickets in Montreal were over $160 each).

Chuck Hedges

My brother recently sent me a Milwaukee Magazine feature on Chuck Hedges. He knew I’d get a kick out of it. Most people know Chuck Hedges as a famous Milwaukee clarinetist, someone who has recorded multiple jazz CDs as a leader, occasionally plays in Madison, and who regularly plays at jazz festivals across the country and in Europe. We both knew him as our local instrument repairman.

I grew up in a conservative, working class neighborhood on the south side of Milwaukee, not far from Cascio’s Music on 62nd and Lincoln. My brother played trumpet. I started on clarinet in 4th grade and switched one year later to the saxophone, playing a Cousnon my parents bought from Mr Cascio (I still have the sax and the receipt, and it still plays very well). Chuck was Cascio’s repairman. It’s hard to say why he made an impression on us; I guess he was always nice and talked to us like we counted, even though we were just kids. I do remember that my sax always played very well after he worked on it.

Many years later I took up the saxophone again and was having problems with my sax. Nobody could seem to fix it so I thought I’d track down Chuck. Well, the little store on Lincoln wasn’t there any more. Cascio’s is now out in New Berlin in a much larger store, Cascio’s Interstate Music Superstore. I was told Chuck had left years ago. Bob Viviano said he had many years of experience, worked on it, and made it play great. Thanks, Bob.

I know that while I had been deep in my school studies Chuck was busy making a name for himself;  I had seen him advertised for midwest jazz festivals. Now I was more curious. I bought a few of his CDs. Wow, he can really swing. He’s as good as many of the bigger names, with a unique style that bridges traditional New Orleans jazz with swing.  I’ve seen him live several times and own 4 of his CDs. There’s no doubt Chuck Hedges is one of the best clarinetists I’ve ever heard, and the real kick is I can say I knew him way back when he was toiling away in Cascio’s basement repair shop. It’s good to see someone from the old neighborhood make it big.

The Milwaukee Magazine story is a comprehensive profile of Chuck Hedges from his days as a repairman to the current time. According to the article, Chuck is currently struggling with health issues but keeps plugging away, and at a high level. Here’s the story:

Janet Planet

I’m bummed that I missed Janet Planet with the UW Big Band at the Middleton Performing Arts Center last night. One of the things I hope to do with this blog is shine the spotlight on Madison jazz events that are special or rare and maybe don’t get the attention they deserve. All of these apply to any Janet Planet performance.

I first heard Janet Planet sing around 20 years ago when I was a student here in Madison. I think it was at one of the Isthmus Jazz festivals. Back then, she performed more regularly in the area as Janet Planet and the Urban World. They were an exciting band featuring Janet and 3 or 4 horns including saxophonist Tom Washatka (who I believe is married to Janet). Tom can circular breathe and I remember him holding a high note for what seemed like forever while the crowd went wild. Somewhat of a crowd pleasing stunt, but he is a great player in many ways who I really enjoy hearing.

 

I’ve heard Janet a number of times since then. She seems to be based out of Appleton so doesn’t come into town often but it’s always special when she does. The last few times I’ve heard her she was with big bands, once with the UW and the last time with her own quartet partnered with the Middleton HS jazz band. That concert took place at the new Middleton Performing Arts Center too, a place I had not been to before, let alone heard of.

 

 

As you can see it’s a beautiful venue, and it has very good sound. It was a bit hard to find at first because I didn’t expect it to be attached to the Middleton High School. I also wasn’t expecting the first set to be the high school jazz band, somewhere I missed that in the fine print. It was OK though, because I found myself enjoying these young people as they worked hard to play and improvise to the best of their abilities. Having Janet and her band there for the second set really seemed to inspire and focus them.

 

And Janet didn’t let down. She comfortably worked the crowd with anecdotes (some of these were retreads I had heard before but they went over well again so why not recycle?) between a mix of jazzy standards capably supported by her quartet and the high school big band. As her usual for these types of gigs she closed with an Aretha Franklin tune, wailing away and sending shivers down my spine.

 

Not many singers can be sensitive and introspective one moment and then belting it out like a great gospel singer one song later. She has the whole package and she should be better known. Her concert should have gotten more media attention and then I wouldn’t have missed it. At least I put the time to good use; I created this blog and the next time she comes around I’ll be there because the reliable and detailed crazeology calendar is back on line and linked right from this site.